Contemporary Amperex Technology company Limited (CATL), the world’s largest EV battery maker, based in Chinese coastal city of Ningde, on Friday announced it will invest 7.34 billion euros to build a 100 GWh battery plant in Debrecen of east Hungary, which is also its second battery plant in Europe following its German plant.
The construction of the first production facilities at the Hungarian plant will start within this year subject to the shareholder meeting approval, the company said in a statement on Friday (12 August).
Covering an area of 221 hectares in the Southern Industrial Park of Debrecen, the project will supply both cells and modules to European automakers.
Debrecen is located at the heart of Europe, and with close proximity to some auto plants of its customers such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Stellantis and Volkswagen, CATL’s Debrecen plant will enable it to better cope with the battery demands of the European market, improve its global production network development, and help accelerate e-mobility and energy transition in Europe, the company said.
As part of its commitment to reducing the carbon footprint in battery manufacturing, CATL will use electricity from renewable energies, and is considering developing solar power with local partners in the country, it added.
To build a sustainable and circular battery value chain, CATL is also examining the possibility of joining forces with local partners to establish facilities for battery materials in Europe.
“There is no doubt that our plant in Debrecen will enable us to further sharpen our competitive edge, better respond to our European customers, and accelerate the transition to e-mobility in Europe,” said CATL founder and chairman Robin Zeng in a statement.
“The greenfield project in Hungary will be a giant leap in CATL’s global expansion, and also an important step in our efforts to make an outstanding contribution to the green energy drive for humankind,” Zeng added.
Péter Szijjártó, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said, “We are proud that CATL decided to execute the biggest ever greenfield investment in the history of Hungary. We have recently become one of the leading battery production sites of the world and with this huge investment we further strengthen our position.”